Pentecost---The Shift to Spirit Part 4

[HKHaugan]

Pentecost Shift to the Spirit Part 4

Vs.4 “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

We’ll break this verse down into three parts: spiritual filling, spiritual tongues and spiritual ability.

First, spiritual filling.
This verse presents us with the real challenge. This is the key verse that opens the door to everything that happens after Pentecost, the spread of faith in Jesus, the beginning of the Body of Christ and the birth of mission and ministry. What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? For the sake of our personal self-assessment, our interpersonal witness and what we believe God wants of us, we need to face three very sobering realities involving God the Holy Spirit: guilt, temptation and risk. Face them because these were the same the disciples had to face.
None of these were issues for Adam and Eve until they disobeyed God. Then the devil’s spirit, sin, entered their hearts and they were separated from God. Every moment had been a moment of pleasure in God but now every next moment was a moment of fear, hiding, shame and blame. The Holy Spirit no longer enabled the oneness with God they had been born with. What had been their unashamed physical nakedness was now the sign of their spiritual nakedness filled with shame and fear, which was completely new to them. Ever since Adam and Eve mankind has tried to clothe itself with the fig leaves of worldly symbols of success and accomplishment, thinking these will cover their inner nakedness which is really the absence of the Spirit (Gen.3:10). So these three, temptation, guilt and risk, stand before every human being. How did Jesus handle these three?
First, temptation. Temptation is not just a concept. It is a reality every human being faces within. True, it is external in that there is always something or someone that is the object or subject of temptation. But the feeling within that comes with the need for differentiating between right and wrong choices, decisions and consequent behavior rides relentlessly in the night of our aloneness as individuals. While common to all, temptation is individualized in its pressure on the uniqueness of our personal weaknesses. This is where the devil comes in. He knows all of us are weak and spends time observing us and tempts us when he thinks he can penetrate our personal weaknesses with one or more of his spirits.
Look at the temptations of Jesus (Matt.3). The devil tempted Him in the areas in which he thought Jesus would be weak. After all, wasn’t He hungry after all that time with no food or water? If not that then wasn’t it necessary to prove who He was? If that temptation doesn’t work then of course, if He was who He said He was wouldn’t He want to control the world and rid it of all its problems? To each temptation Jesus quoted Scripture in the power of the Holy Spirit and the devil left Him.
The questions for each of us: what are our unique weaknesses and are we ready to meet them in the consciousness of the presence of Jesus who has come to us and lives in our hearts through the Holy Spirit?
Second, guilt. What is guilt? Genesis 3 offers the best analysis of this human condition. Guilt is the frustrating ever-present result of our inability to control and satisfy our spiritual emptiness. We have a moral sense of good and evil but no natural internal standard so our emptiness confuses us and we can’t handle the internal conflict this incurs. We fear what others think. Then we fear what we find ourselves thinking and doing. We are constantly adjusting to what we, apart from God, conclude is going on in the minds of people around us. When things don’t go our way we look to either to blame someone or something, condemn someone or something, shift the heat from self to someone or something and if those don’t work, to justify our reactions and ourselves to someone or something. Check out Genesis 3 and see if that doesn’t about sum it up.
The power guilt has places us at the mercy of the spirits of self-doubt, self-deception and a belief that we can overcome it by ourselves. Consider Judas and what guilt did to him. What about Peter and his denial of Jesus? Then we have Paul and his persecution of Jesus’ disciples as well as his recognition that he was chiefest of sinners. Look at Thomas who doubted and the other disciples who deserted Jesus. Each of them walked the corridors of guilt. It is this deep inner conflict that desperately needs resolution. Our every next moment is crippled until guilt is resolved.
The power of guilt was what Jesus canceled on the Cross. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for guilt because He was the only One who ever lived that had no guilt nor did He ever feel guilty. This is apparent since Jesus is the only person who ever lived that never had to kick Himself for anything He ever said or did. He never had to think or ponder whether He was right or wrong. He was always right. He never took back any of His words or apologized for anything or doubted Himself. Think about other ‘religious’ figures in human history. All of the biographical sketches about them record guilt about past thinking and behavior but their so-called ‘enlightenment’ was denial and escape rather than freedom from it.
Then think about people in general. There are only two great classes, those who think they are right but got caught and those who think they are more right than the right ones because they didn’t get caught.
Now, think about Jesus. Only Jesus stands out as sinless, always right and without guilt. Why? He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, lived by the Holy Spirit and died trusting His Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are One. Need we say more?
Third, risk. Risk is the third barrier. This is where we come to that moment where fear is confronted. There are many things that incite fear. Physical harm, emotional pain, rejection, death, hidden secrets, how others see us, health, not being and appearing right; all these curry fear’s favor. Fear is what isolates us and makes us hide. We hide behind what we believe will look good, keep up appearances, give us marketability and acceptance whenever and wherever we go. This is the politics of individuality or ‘individualitics,’ the politics of momentary survival. The methodology of ‘individualitics’ is to compromise any and all concepts for the sake of convenient acceptance, acceptance being the goal, the success, the idol. Knowing what works at any given moment is the measure of intellectual perception, which qualifies you in the secular world for guaranteed self-fulfillment and emotional satisfaction. Note the absence of risk for, and the absence of, absolute truth, the lack of integrity and the total dependence on the belief that self is in control of every next moment.
Real risk is spiritual. Belief, trust and faith in someone or something outside yourself is spiritual risk. The question is, since everyone has faith in something or someone, has the object of that faith experienced death and risen from it? An atheist believes in not believing in God. Is it worth placing your life and the way you live it in that context? Can that context provide love, acceptance, purpose, meaning, significance and a secure knowledge of right and wrong? Which is the greater risk, to believe in something that dies, changes form from person to person, is a human philosophy and an intellectual concept or to take the risk and test believing in a sinless person who dies and rises from the dead? What do you have to lose? Only eternity!
But for Christians risk is central to the calling we have. Risk is the nature of faith. No one knows what will happen in every next moment. It is living every next moment in the context of a relationship with an eternal Person and His values. The risk is in the choice we have either to compromise for the convenience of surviving in every next moment or to believe that the risen Jesus is present in the midst of my every next moment. To keep me aware of Jesus in the midst of the temptation to compromise with the world in every next moment, that is the work of the Spirit. My willingness to let Him have control in every next conscious moment is the risk, the spiritual risk to choose Jesus’ way or the devil’s wrong. It is the Spirit of Truth who inspires us to choose His way. He empowers us to act out of our eternal born again nature as opposed to self-centered sin and its promise of momentary survival.
There are three dimensions to spiritual risk: personal, interpersonal and physical.
First, the personal. Personal is the willingness to step outside yourself and allow the Lord to show you your weaknesses.
Second, the interpersonal. The interpersonal is the willingness to share with spiritually gifted brothers and sisters some of the weaknesses in the heart. Praying together with them, maybe seeking their counsel, allows the Holy Spirit to reveal the Lord’s hand to work for their healing. This is where what the Bible calls strongholds are really our ‘weak’holds, the ideas and conclusions we have made apart from God about life and others that we use to survive in the world.
Third, the physical. The physical body’s health depends on risking that a balanced healthy regimen will keep the body and the mind in relatively good shape and be the base for our mind and spirit to function as they were intended. Risking disciplined healthy thinking and behavior keeps us centered and usable by the Spirit. Now back to the disciples and their being filled by the Holy Spirit. How we see this event determines how we see ourselves in relationship to the Spirit.
To begin with, they were internally filled, inspirited, spiritualized. It was a personal internal spiritual revolution. Consider how they thought, how they felt, how they responded before the Spirit came and then think about how they were after the Spirit came. There are three observations Scripture gives us about this event.

First, Jesus was an external experience. Yes, they called Him Messiah, Lord, Teacher and miracle worker but those were based on what they saw and heard externally. At this point in their lives Jesus was risen but the Resurrection was an external phenomenon. It wasn’t about every next moment. It was still about every past moment.

Second, they were still the same people internally. Even after the Resurrection appearances they went fishing which kind of points to the fact that they were impressed with Jesus, remembered Him and honored Him but He was still out there, outside, apart from them. Sure, He could do all He did because He was special and God anointed. What He had they didn’t. Their moments were relying on past strategies.

Third, the world hadn’t changed. It was still the same. They still had to figure out how to survive economically, socially and especially in terms of what they anticipate to be the hostility of the political and religious leadership. The one verse that sums up their entire internal pre–Pentecost experience is Jn.20:19 which says they were together, “…with doors locked for fear of the Jews.” They still face every next moment with fear. This verse reveals more than we can imagine. What they had seen really wouldn’t make any difference when it came to facing what was in their hearts and what could only await them ahead. Each of them was consumed with an inner fear. They were, each of them, alone, locked within and from each other and the world by the chains of fear. Their unity was not Jesus but their fear. He was still outside, external, not within. Their world was figuring out how to survive every next moment based on fear of what might happen, not what did happen. Fear pretty well sums up how all humanity lives in this world.

With the gift of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost they no longer lived in fear of their aloneness nor were they afraid of others (Acts 2-4). The spiritual emptiness within was filled. Now they would look ahead in faith. The Spirit of God that had been outside because of sin since Adam’s fall was now available to return within because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross that made it possible.

Second, spiritual tongues.

As a sign of this infilling they were enabled to speak known and unknown languages by the same indwelling Spirit. Paul tells us that in 1Cor.13 when he cites ‘tongues of men and of angels.’ Just what were these tongues and what do they signify?

But, for a moment, we need to expand our understanding. We need to look at how we communicate. Language is more than just words. We know that by the fact that we send messages with our eyes, gestures and other non-verbal means. Some call it ‘body language.’ We can communicate with music, drama and literature by the ‘message’ we send through them. It is said that people who sing pray twice. Then there can be the impression of quiet, when ‘his silence says it all.’ The Bible talks about Creation and all its different parts reflecting the power and presence of God. He speaks not only through earthquakes, storms, winds and waves but even in the still small voice in a cave and even the voice of the turtle can be heard. We talk about the language of love, fear, hate and even the hand languages of the deaf.

Again, Paul says there are two verbal languages, those of men and of angels (1Cor.13:1). Men’s include the different sounds we use to communicate what is in our minds and hearts. If we go back to the Tower of Babel in Genesis we see the same two. There was God’s language, which was a spiritual language and men’s attempt to use that language to take God’s place. But God took that away from them and they began to speak what seemed gibberish to one another and wandered into the far regions of the world unable to linguistically make sense. With Pentecost not only were the Apostles able to speak in many known languages but they also were able to speak spiritual languages that could be heard. If we take this gift seriously it gives us an insight into why they were given.

First, now motivated by an indwelling Spirit they would be talking to each other about Jesus, their experience of Him, their shared experience of Him and the heart change He made in them. The spiritual languages were signs of the Spirit’s work coming from above and sharing amongst them. They looked forward to every next moment.

Second, speaking about Jesus in other human dialects and languages was necessary. It was a further sign that as they spoke they would be able to communicate a common spiritual reality to the hearts of unbelievers. Every next moment was an opportunity to share Jesus.

Third, their witness would not only be spoken, it would be God’s love reflected through actions and behavior. God’s love is a spiritual non-verbal language He speaks through the believer. There is more to language than just words. The gift of tongues is a welcome sign of the Holy Spirit initiating this new level of communication for the building of the Body. Not all believers are to receive this gift but those that do are to share it and those with the gift of interpretation bring the flavor of what God is saying. It is not a translation but a spiritual understanding to be communicated for the growth of the Body.

Third, spiritual ability.

In the final analysis for our time and place it is how we understand the Holy Spirit. It is He who gets us to think spiritually. He nudges us to see everything in a spiritual context. He transforms the believer with a truly new sense of spiritual being. He brings the person of Jesus into the heart. He gives us the ability to believe, trust and have faith in an entirely new way. The Spirit filled the apostles and their following generations with the presence of Jesus and what had been God outside was now God inside. This was and is the beginning of a new age and the beginning of the end times for the world. The One who made it all possible will return to bring us all home when He knows the time is right.

We are between the already and the not yet. In this time in between we are given the Spirit to learn how to think spiritually, to trust spiritually and to act spiritually. We are given a new way to see God, to let Him act through us and to let the Scriptures comes alive in and through us. Spiritual gifts enable us to minister to one another. They build the Body and motivate us to share the Lord Jesus with everyone around us. The Spirit enables others to sense Jesus through us and to receive Him as we received Him.

If we read John 13-17 we find that Jesus is preparing the disciples not only for His departure but also for the coming of the Holy Spirit and the work He will do recovering people from sin and reshaping them from within. As He does this He is also building them into a Body that will bring the world to the feet of Jesus.

What we see in Scripture is the Holy Spirit defined immediately in Genesis 1 as a hoverer waiting for the Lord’s command to act. He is always hovering ready to do the work of the Lord. He is the Spirit of Truth hovering over every mind, the Spirit of love hovering over the heart and the Spirit of power hovering over the body. Just as He hovered over the Hebrew people He hovers over us all the time.

The Holy Spirit is an every next moment Inspirer of vision for mission, enabler of ministry in the Body and healer of brokenness inflicted by the devil and evil. The Holy Spirit is the power of faith, the teacher of Scripture and the One who exposes the devil and his work. The Holy Spirit is the exorcist of evil spirits and demons that lure us and encourage us to think and act apart from God. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of humility. He seeks only the mind and heart of Jesus to be lifted up. The Holy Spirit brings insights, principles and ideas that God plants in us to handle every next moment. The Holy Spirit is the healer of the spirit, heart and mind. He is the fullness that fills. “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:9-11).”

It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to fill every next moment.